October 3rd 2025

Dear Little School Families,

We’ve made it to October here at the Little School! Our 5th graders enjoyed a wonderful field trip to Ipswich River Park this week, where the perfect fall weather made the day extra special. Next Friday, Kindergarten will head to Smolak Farm, and we’re hoping for the same beautiful weather for their adventure.

Our beginning-of-year assessments are officially complete, and I’ve had the joy of visting classrooms and watching students work hard and embrace productive struggle in their learning.

Today, we held our first Whole School Meeting of the year. Together, we reviewed the Pillars of Character: caring, trustworthy, respect, responsibility, fairness, and citizenship. This trimester, our schoolwide focus will be on being caring and trustworthy. We encourage you to talk with your student about what these qualities look like in different spaces and situations. Two areas we’re especially focusing on at school are recess and the bathrooms.

Looking forward to all the learning, growth, and community-building that October will bring!

Best,

Julie Fahey, Principal

WOW! What an amazing day we had here at the Little celebrating Rock Your School Day!

Our students and staff looked fantastic, and the energy was incredible from start to finish.

We kicked off the morning with our first whole school meeting, where we truly rocked out!

The excitement continued in classrooms, where teachers brought lessons to life in creative and engaging ways that kept students smiling and learning.

Here are just a few snapshots from the day—be sure to check out my Instagram for even more action and highlights!

A huge thank you to our amazing PTO for helping us decorate and making this celebration extra special.

This year, students at the Little School will have the opportunity to purchase snacks and ice cream treats during lunchtime!

• Each snack costs $1.00.

• Purchases must be made using funds in a student’s My School Bucks account (linked below).

• Classes will be scheduled for specific days of the week to purchase snacks.

• Students in grades 4 and 5 will be able to purchase snacks 2x per week

• Snack sales will begin on October 14th.

We’ve taken care to consider allergens and dietary restrictions—there will be something for everyone!

Below is the schedule for purchase:

Tuesday: Kelly, Brown, Gates, Milone

Wednesday: Nickerson, Lynch, O'Brien, Polcari

Thursday: Duchesne, Fabian, Gates, Milone

Friday: Brennan, Elwell, Kleinpeter, Pessotti, O'Brien, Polcari

📧 Questions about purchasing snacks? Contact Ms. Coviello at scoviello@nrpsk12.org
📧 Questions about allergies? Contact Ms. Dispena at ndispena@nrpsk12.org

Chronic Absenteeism

Children are considered chronically absent by the State of Massachusetts if they miss 18 or more days in a school year (10% threshold of a 180 day school year). This information is submitted to the state annually.

Regular attendance is crucial to academic success.

This year, we’re excited to connect our Top Dog Awards to the 6 Pillars of Character. Each trimester, we’ll celebrate students who go above and beyond in demonstrating these important values.

For our first trimester (October–December), we’ll be recognizing students who show what it means to be caring and trustworthy. ❤️🤝

Our first Top Dog Awards will be handed out at the end of this month—we can’t wait to celebrate our amazing students! 🎉

• PTO Virtual Meeting is on October 8th at 7 PM. A Google Meet link will be sent out ahead of time

• Save The Date for Little School Trunk or Treat on 10/25 from 12-2 PM. More details to come!

• Get Your Little School Merch! Newly added Hoodies and Sweatshirts Available! https://www.wellswearnr.com/shop/little-school/4QUII4W54IWJ3A4OLX7CISGE

• Our Annual Fund remains open! https://littlepto.org/news/2025/annual-fund-drive-83syx-agbkx

October 8th- First PTO Meeting 7PM

October 10th- Early Release

October 13th- No School (Columbus Day)

October 20th-24th- Book Fair

October 25th- Trunk or Treat

Julie Fahey, Principal

Email: jfahey@nrpsk12.org

Website: https://www.north-reading.k12.ma.us/little-elementary

Address: 7 Barberry Rd. North Reading, MA 01864

Instagram: @principalfahey